Forum considers impact of new pension law

February 4, 2014

UIC employees care about their pensions.

That was evident last Wednesday when nearly 350 of them filled a meeting room at Student Center West.

Talking about Illinois’ new pension law were Jeff Houch, legislative liaison for the State Universities Retirement System (SURS), and Brenda Russell, president of the UIC chapter of the State Universities Annuitants Association.

Houch gave what he called “the 35,000-foot view” of the new plan, passed Dec. 3 by the Illinois legislature and signed by Gov. Pat Quinn two days later.

The law was devised to address the state’s $100 billion pension shortfall, although experts, including the university’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs, have said it may not be enough.

Lawsuits challenging the law’s constitutionality have been filed by a coalition of state employee unions and two retired employee associations, which experts say could delay its June 1 effective date.

If upheld, the law’s greatest impact on state retirees would be the automatic annual increase (AAI), Houch said. This amounts to 3 percent of the pension annuity, or $1,000 times the years of service, whichever is less.

Under the new law, those who retire after July 1 would be hit with AAI “skips” according to their age now: